The pandemic brought about a huge change – and even bigger advances are just ahead
As offices shuttered across Canada at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and in-person meetings became – at least temporarily – a thing of the past, technology solutions stepped in to play a huge role in helping mortgage professionals continue to carry out their daily work.
It’s commonly said that the pandemic helped supercharge the uptake of technology in the industry, and it’s clear that tech and digital solutions will continue to have an enormous impact in transforming the work of mortgage brokers in the years ahead.
Carla Giles (pictured top), chief executive officer of the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association – British Columbia (CMBA-BC), has long held a keen interest in digital transformation, having taken a certificate program in that area while studying for her MBA.
The executive told Canadian Mortgage Professional of a seismic digital shift underway in the mortgage industry – unsurprisingly, driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
Using data effectively to streamline operations, processes, and sharing platforms through new tools and API connections had already been prominent among technological advancements in the mortgage space. Now, “what is really supporting the adoption of digital transformation is also automation and artificial intelligence,” Giles explained.
“Those are becoming essential tools in enhancing operations of any organization, but more specifically it has already penetrated the mortgage industry.”
AI tools and CRMs have surged in popularity as a means of supporting brokers in their marketing efforts with clients, whether by personalizing communications or determining the best way of establishing contact with customers.
Many of those tools also have embedded assessment of risk and identification of potential compliance risks as well as checks and balances, while others could serve as a potent tool in helping develop mortgage products tailored to specific segments of the population.
The “rapid adoption” of AI in the mortgage space, Giles noted, has also served to expedite the document verification processes, which in addition to compliance checks has helped take certain mundane but important tasks out of brokers’ hands. “What that does is it provides some free time for brokers to focus more on what truly matters, which is front and centres,” she said.
“The more I talk with brokers, the more [it’s clear] it’s about building that solid client base, expanding, getting more deals, closing more deals, and so on.”
Tech advancements help drive better broker-client relationships
That trend towards streamlining and improving brokers’ relationships with their clients is significant, especially with the broker channel becoming increasingly influential in Canadians’ mortgage journeys.
A May survey of around 4,000 consumers by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) found that the proportion of consumers using a mortgage broker jumped by 5% between 2023 and 2024 to date, rising from 43% to 48%, as the percentage of borrowers going direct to lender dipped.
A new survey by Leger reveals that housing affordability remains the top concern for Canadians, surpassing inflation.
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) August 1, 2024
Read more: https://t.co/X1RZWOjQmu
First-time buyers, newcomers to Canada, Ontario and BC residents, and homeowners wishing to refinance were some of the most common borrowers working with a mortgage broker, compared with older consumers, residents of Quebec and renewing customers who generally preferred to work directly with a lender.
CMHC’s survey also suggested that 72% of Canadians were “somewhat or totally satisfied” with their experience dealing with their broker. Giles said the finding “really indicates that clients do tend to continue with a mortgage broker over the lifetime of a mortgage because of the satisfaction of building that relationship.
“Brokers who are doing well, especially [those with] high volumes, truly understand how important it is to personalize interactions… and automation, AI is helping them with that and will continue to help them.”
What are some of the tech challenges facing mortgage brokers?
One potential issue about the growing influence of technology in the mortgage space, according to Giles, is a possible imbalance between brokerages investing in tech and those external brokers who may be shut out of benefiting from those advancements.
It’s essential that all brokers are cognizant of the potential benefits such tech can bring, she said. “If you’re not part of a brokerage that provides you with that, or that has put the effort into compliance and reviewing the platforms that they use – for instance, basic steps such as cybersecurity, protection against data breaches, anything like that – then those brokers are kind of outside, they’re missing out,” she said.
“So one of the things that we want to focus in in the future is see if we can expand that pool of brokers that can actually better understand how to take advantage of these technologies.”
Make sure to get all the latest news to your inbox on Canada’s mortgage and housing markets by signing up for our free daily newsletter here.
